May 31, 2013

ON THE BLACKSTONE RIVER â€“ Back in the 1980s the late U.S. Sen. John H. Chafee knew the best way to get people to support his namesake Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor was to get them into boats so they could see the historic area from the waters of the river.

May 30th

May 30, 2013

By

Russ Olivo

The Rhode Island Association of Realtors is calling the spring housing market one of the strongest since the 2008 price bust that triggered the nationâ€™s foreclosure crisis.
Sales of single-family homes rose seven percent in April 2013 compared to the same month a year ago, and the median sales price of $180,000 was also three percent higher, the trade group said in a report released yesterday.

May 30, 2013

By

Joseph B. Nadeau

LINCOLN â€“ Table games will be opening at the Twin River Casino sooner than expected, thanks to a smooth effort to complete preparations for the new operation.
The ribbon on the new live gaming tables will be cut following a ceremony beginning at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, June 19, according to Patti Doyle, Twin River spokesman.
â€śJuly 1 was our original target and we were able to pull that forward to June 19,â€ť Doyle said.

May 30, 2013

By

Ernest A. Brown

Governor Lincoln Chafee enters the Board of Canvassers in Warwick City Hall shortly after 10:00 a.m. Thursday to sign a short form switching his party affiliation officially from Independent to Democrat before a hoard of reporters and photographers who had gathered there before his arrival.

May 29th

May 29, 2013

By

Russ Olivo

WOONSOCKET â€“ A new approach to hooking up commercial and retail tenants with downtown rental spaces will be spearheaded this weekend by NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley.
â€śThe Woonsocket Main Street Open Houseâ€ť is â€śfirst and foremost an effort to fill vacancies,â€ť said Ainsley Cantoral, director of resource development for NeighborWorks, a private, non-profit agency in the city.

May 29, 2013

By

Joseph B. Nadeau

WOONSOCKET â€“ The School Committee will consider recalling another group of laid-off teachers tonight at 5 in the Hamlet Middle School as it wraps up work on staffing for the coming school year.
The panel laid off 59 of its teachers in February to reserve leeway for making staffing changes that might be required in finalizing next yearâ€™s budget. The School Committee has already rehired 36 of the teachers during earlier committee action leaving 23 still on layoff.
The state Budget Commission running city affairs also approved the recommended earlier recalls.

May 29, 2013

By

Russ Olivo

WOONSOCKET â€“ Amid a looming cash crunch, city officials are once again floating the idea of a state takeover of city schools as a way through the fiscal morass.
But Dave Abbott, the deputy commissioner of education, all but closed the door on a Central Falls-style takeover of the Woonsocket Education Department.
In an interview, Abbott gauged the chances of the Rhode Island Department of Education taking of the WED as â€śvery slim.â€ť

May 28th

May 28, 2013

By

Russ Olivo

WOONSOCKET â€“ Stanislaw Okruta, 78, and his downstairs neighbor, Julien Stroz, 61, are friendly enough to watch TV together, but when an argument erupted over the remote control Sunday one of them ended up in the hospital.
Stroz was transported to Rhode Island Hospital with stab wounds to his head, arm and torso â€“ the result of what he called â€śa little fightâ€ť with Okruta, according to police reports.
Because Stroz adamantly declined to file a complaint against him, Okruta was not charged with any crime, according to Detective Sgt. Matt Ryan.

May 28, 2013

By

Russ Olivo

WOONSOCKET â€“ Could four-day school weeks be coming to Woonsocket?
Itâ€™s possible, if a bill that passed the Senate last week manages to find its way to becoming law.
Introduced by State Senator Roger Picard (D-Dist. 20, Woonsocket, Cumberland), the bill doesnâ€™t mandate four-day school weeks. But with the stateâ€™s consent, school districts could adopt any sort of calendar they deem fit, so long as the school year provides no less than 1,080 hours of instructional time, the equivalent of the existing 180-day minimum.

May 28, 2013

By

Russ Olivo

WOONSOCKET â€“ Seventeen years after his conviction in the road rage killing of another man with a powerful crossbow, Donald Graham is seeking a new trial with help from a friend in Alaska who has written a book about him.
Now 73, Graham is serving life without parole in the 1994 slaying of 42-year-old Michael Blodgett on the shoulder of I-95 in Attleboro, near the state line.